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Legal Scholars Named to Leadership Roles at Rutgers-Camden

CAMDEN -- The appointments of two legal scholars to leadership positions at Rutgers University-Camden are announced by Rutgers-Camden Chancellor Wendell E. Pritchett.

Rayman Solomon, dean of the Rutgers School of Law-Camden, has been named to the newly created role of provost for the Rutgers-Camden campus. In this capacity, he will serve as chief academic officer for Rutgers-Camden, which enrolls 6,500 students in 36 undergraduate majors and 27 graduate programs. As provost, Solomon will work the Rutgers-Camden’s academic units to ensure that rigorous standards for curriculum and faculty development are achieved.

Solomon will begin his new responsibilities as provost on Jan. 1, 2014. He will continue to serve as dean of the Rutgers-Camden law school until July 1, 2014, when John Oberdiek, currently vice dean of the school, will become acting dean.

Solomon has served as dean of the Rutgers School of Law-Camden since 1998. During that time, the law school has grown its national reputation among peer institutions, prospective students, and employers alike. Under Solomon’s leadership, the Rutgers-Camden law school opened a new, state-of-the-art $37 million classroom building in 2008; greatly expanded its portfolio of clinical and pro bono legal programs to provide experiential learning for its students while delivering critical service to Camden and southern New Jersey residents; attracted faculty whose scholarship has received high recognition wordwide; and positioned Rutgers-Camden graduates to compete in such areas as judicial clerkships, in which the law school is ranked nationally.

Prior to joining the Rutgers-Camden law school, Solomon served as an associate dean for Northwestern University law school. He directed the Seventh Circuit History Project and published the book A History of the United States Court of Appeals, 1891 to 1941 (Government Printing Office, 1981). Solomon served as a law clerk to the Honorable George Edwards, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

In addition to his duties as law school dean, Solomon, 66, has served in a number of capacities for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, including as interim executive dean of the Schools of Business and Law at Rutgers-Camden and as chair of a number of Rutgers-wide committee. He has chaired the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism and is the current chair of the Goldring-Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.

Solomon is a veteran of the U.S. Navy who served aboard the U.S.S. Dale during the Vietnam War from 1969-70.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1968. He then attended the University of Chicago, where he earned his J.D. (1976) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees.

His wife, Carol Avins, is a professor emerita of Russian literature at Rutgers. They have two daughters.

Oberdiek, 41, joined the Rutgers-Camden law school faculty in 2004. He served as the law school’s director of faculty research during 2011 and was named the school’s first vice dean in 2012. A noted scholar in the areas of legal philosophy and tort law, he holds a secondary appointment with the Department of Philosophy on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus and co-directs the Rutgers Institute of Law and Philosophy. During 2005-06, he was the Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Fellow at Princeton University.

He is the editor of the book Philosophical Foundations of the Law of Torts (Oxford University Press; forthcoming) and co-editor of the book Arguing About Law (Routledge; 2009). His research appears widely in such publications as the Harvard Law Review Forum and the book A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory (Wiley-Blackwell; 2010). He co-edits the peer-reviewed professional journal Law and Philosophy.

Oberdiek received his bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in 1995 and his master’s degree in philosophy from New York University in 1998. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his J.D. (2002) and his Ph.D. (2003) degrees.

He and his wife, Patricia, have three children.

The Rutgers School of Law-Camden enrolls 585 students in full- and part-time programs leading to the juris doctor (J.D.) degree. The law school’s faculty are widely recognized in various fields, including international law, health law, intellectual property, family and women’s rights law, and state constitutional law. Among the 9,000 graduates of the Rutgers-Camden law school are leading members of the bar in public and private settings, the judiciary, government, and the public interest. For more information, visit camlaw.rutgers.edu.

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